The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　February 6th, Saturday, noon. The weather is sunny and the temperature is pleasant, making it ideal for travel.

　After spending the entire morning making preparations, Dak and Professor Kazel arrived at the Dragon Training Platform.

　He then summoned the "Soul of the Moon Goddess," commanding it to summon the "Moon Goddess's Chariot," and then summoned the "Fairy Tale Animal - Little Rabbit," before preparing to depart. The destination of this journey was the Temple of the "Goddess of Life," discovered in the Duke's mansion, located in the northeast direction, and at the speed of the "Moon Goddess's Chariot," it would take approximately twenty hours to travel.

　In other words, if we depart now, we can probably arrive by tomorrow evening.

　At that time, people from the Duke's mansion will naturally be there to meet you.

　In short, all the arrangements for the exploration have been made, and Dark has just obtained some information about the temple from the maids.

　Of course, the latest and most detailed information can only be obtained after reaching the destination. Although the investigators dispatched by the Duke's mansion to investigate the temple have not yet entered the temple, they have already obtained a lot of information through this period of careful exploration.

　This will undoubtedly provide them with a lot of convenience, so that they won't end up wandering around aimlessly like headless flies after landing.

　"I hope everything goes well."

　Dak carried his suitcase onto the carriage, then opened the door and entered the carriage.

　Then, he encountered the first unexpected event of his journey. Professor Lily sat obediently on a bench, with a small, exquisite backpack beside her.

　……'

　"Click."

　Dak silently exited the carriage and closed the door.

　Professor Cazell, following closely behind, asked in confusion, "What's wrong?" Darke replied, "This carriage isn't very clean; let's change to another one." Professor Cazell's heart skipped a beat. He glanced at the carriage and smiled, "Where's the dirt? I brought cleaning fluid."

　Dark silently opened the door again and peeked inside. Professor Lily was still there.

　Looking at the seemingly obedient little devil, Dak couldn't hide his ominous premonition and couldn't help but recite "The Memorial to the Throne on the Eve of the Expedition".

　But it's absolutely impossible for him to actually kick Professor Lily off the bus.

　"Just think of it as weight training..."

　He murmured as he walked into the carriage and pushed his suitcase inside.

　Professor Cazell then came in, and after seeing Professor Lily in person, he smiled helplessly.

　For "ordinary students," this extracurricular activity is only slightly more difficult than traveling.

　As their team leader and professor, he could naturally relax as well.

　Therefore, most of the professors in the college have already left.

　Among the third-year students, the most popular team leader among the "ordinary students" is naturally Professor Nini.

　As for the least popular... it's definitely not Professor Lily!

　Even Professor Lily has to take second place compared to Professor Hoddle Bode.

　In any case, Professor Lily waited and waited during this period, but she still couldn't get an invitation.

　Obviously, nobody wants to travel with a ticking time bomb. It's precisely at times like these that...

　Only then did Dak truly understand the hardships Professor Kazel and the others had endured during their past adventures.

　It must have been really tough for them to carry Professor Lily for so long!

　Dak almost got turned back before he even set off.

　"Hey, don't be so naive, Dark Deacon! Professor Lily has been teaching at the academy for many years now, and even if she were to go on an adventure, she couldn't be the same as she used to be!"

　"She definitely won't do things like knowingly triggering a trap again."

　"Don't be scared off by those little stories they told before!" "You're the bravest, Dark Dimon!"

　With these self-encouraging words, Darke sat down next to Professor Lily and asked, "Professor Lily, have you had lunch?"

　Professor Lily said, "The weather is nice today."

　Dark said, "Yeah, what are you doing now?"

　Professor Lily said, "I've been enjoying chocolate parfaits lately."

　"I've heard that durian pizza tastes really good," Dak said.

　Professor Lily said, "Springtime is wonderful!"

　"The wind is quite noisy today," said Dak.

　Professor Lily said, "I'll also be participating in the World Cup Duel Challenge."

　Dark said, "Really? I heard that quite a few professors will be attending."

　Professor Lily said, "Yes, indeed. After all, this is a great opportunity to obtain 'divine essence.' Many professors only started rehabilitation last year, and they all want to use this opportunity to gain experience and improve."

　"That's really ambitious," Dark said. "So, what are your goals?"

　Professor Lily said, "It's all about participation."

　Darko said, "Not aiming for the championship."

　Professor Lily rolled her eyes at him and said, "Give the newcomers a chance." Darke: "Oh."

　You'd be a fool to actually believe that!

　"Since you're here, let's come together."

　Professor Cazell put his suitcase away, then cheerfully stepped out of the carriage and exchanged a few words with Professor Sylph at the front of the train.

　After that, "Fairy Tale Animal? Little Rabbit" drove the "Moon Goddess Chariot" into the sky, quickly broke through the barrier, and accelerated towards the northeast.

　Once he confirmed that he was on the right track, Professor Cazell returned to the carriage and summoned tea from the table.

　pastry.

　Even if they travel day and night, they will have to stay in this carriage for a full twenty hours; of course, they can't just sit there doing nothing.

　"It's still more convenient to have a horse-drawn carriage."

　He casually picked up a book, flipped to the bookmarked page, and started flipping through it haphazardly.

　Although his gaze was on the pages of the book, his mind was completely elsewhere.

　After a long time, I was able to form an adventure team with Lily again, and some past memories just kept coming back to me.

　While that period of time certainly had many sad moments, the happy memories do not disappear because of the sadness.

　Looking back, one always suddenly realizes that the adventurer team of four has been reduced to just two... well, three.

　Thinking of this, Professor Cazell's mood eased slightly, and he looked at the still noisy Dark and Lily with a fatherly gaze.

　It felt like going back to the past.

　Just minutes later, the "Moon Chariot" had already left the town outside St. Marian's Academy far behind.

　Professor Lily glanced back and immediately knew that she could no longer be kicked out, and her tone and demeanor instantly became arrogant.

　She had seemingly claimed this small carriage as her own territory. She flapped her wings and flew around inside the carriage like a giant fly, buzzing and buzzing.

　He spoke in an arrogant tone.

　But that's just how little imps are.

　Dak was already used to it.

　He flipped through the documents while casually responding to Professor Lily's words.

　Speaking of which, many professors, including Professor Lily, are very interested in this World Cup Duel Challenge.

　Whether aiming for the championship or simply joining in the fun, countless professors want to participate in the World Cup.

　Not to mention Professor Lily, even Professor Cazell and Professor Harvey mentioned in their conversations with him that they were interested in registering for the World Cup.

　Unlike Arvit and Principal Art, who were "obsessed with gods," the World Cup Duel Challenge was already challenging enough for them. Leaving aside the large amount of "divine resources" that would inevitably be obtained as a reward for winning, the "gift from the gods" that would ultimately be received was also incredibly enticing.

　However, since this is the first World Cup, there are basically no entry requirements, so this preliminary selection will definitely be a process of weeding out the weak.

　Besides the professors, quite a few students also want to participate. As the deadly lure of "God's Gift" spreads, those old fogies who have been hiding for years will likely be lured out.

　Among them, there are likely many "fake duelists" or even "fake mages".

　They may never have had a magical duel before, or they may not even have been mages.

　But after learning that the winner of the competition would receive a "gift from the gods," he frantically studied and quickly became a mage in a short period of time, relying on his terrifying abilities.

　—This is not impossible.

　After all, magic is such a convenient thing.

　In terms of getting started, as long as you have the corresponding talent and a high level of magic foundation, you can easily switch to another major.

　But these "quick-made mages" are actually not so bad. What's really bad are those guys who just casually craft a few magic cards and pretend to be mages.

　How to filter out these "imposters" is what the event organizers, namely the Magic Alliance, need to consider.

　Dac had raised this point before.

　The three most important points to consider when formulating the rules for this World Cup Duel Challenge are:

　① Contestant selection

　②Spirit Summoning Ritual

　③ Award Categories

　The first point has already been mentioned.

　The second point is the ritual of the three-in-one awakening of Hermes.

　The third point is to set up more "awards" so that more contestants can receive the "gift from the gods".

　Unlike the Academy Championship, the World Cup Duel Challenge is not a team competition, and there can only be one champion.

　However, if only one duelist ultimately receives the "Gift of the Gods," it would be a tremendous waste in the eyes of everyone.

　Therefore, some other awards should be added, or the winner's title should be changed accordingly.

　The most reliable approach proposed so far is to award the title of "Duel King" to all players who enter the "main tournament".

　Then sort them from top to bottom. This makes "everyone a duel king".

　I just don't know if this kind of "cheating" behavior will be recognized by the rules.

　But it's worth a try.

　Dark had already experienced a "gift from God," which brought him great benefits.

　If he could receive another "gift from God," he would definitely be willing to put in the effort for it.

　For example, trying to snag a "last seat" at Dangdang.

　However, as of now, the competition rules have not been fully finalized, and it is unknown how many "Duel Kings" there will be.

　In short, it's up to Principal Art to decide.

　How many chickens can we actually steal? "Is this still a viable strategy?"

　Professor Lily listened, stunned, her eyes wide as she stared at Darker. She didn't actually have any intention of "aiming for the championship."

　After all, even Kazel said he was going to practice.

　Back when they were adventuring together, Kazel wasn't the strongest among them. But after entering St. Marian Academy, he transitioned from an alchemist to a mage, and his progress seemed to be phenomenal, like he had a cheat code. Especially in the last two years, it's become increasingly incomprehensible.

　As the "most self-aware" little fairy, Lily never even considered competing with Kazel.

　But what if there are many "Duel Kings"?

　"I, Lily Laplace, the strongest sage among the fairies, and the strongest fairy among the sages, it's not too much to ask for the title of 'Duel King,' is it?"

　Professor Lily blinked rapidly, a sudden surge of competitive spirit igniting within her.

　Even her long-held "just getting by" attitude has changed. It's time to work harder, Lily!

　"Oh no, Lily's momentum is building."

　Kazel suddenly felt his left eyelid twitch, and a familiar feeling washed over him.

　The last time I had this feeling was the last time.

　We must be extremely cautious on this trip to the Temple of Life, and we absolutely cannot repeat the same mistakes!

　"Give me a copy of the documents."

　Professor Kazel tapped his head, put down the book in his hand, and then took a document from Dak.